A Montrose professor criticised for her views on gender identity told a transgender caller they are “genetically male” during a heated on-air debate.
Kathleen Stock, who was a guest on LBC radio, was speaking to a caller who claimed the philosopher and writer is “all over the place” with her beliefs.
The caller accused Ms Stock of saying women are in danger from transgender people before the Montrose-born academic hit back stating “I said repeatedly that trans women are not the particular danger; it’s males” before adding “have you read my book?”
When the caller, named Farrah, identified as transgender, Ms Stock responded: “Well then, I’m afraid you are genetically male. It’s a fact. It’s in your biology.
“It was determined at conception; I’m sorry. I don’t accept you change sex I’m afraid. I don’t think it’s scientifically possible.”
The former Montrose Academy pupil hit the headlines when she said in her book Material Girls: Why Reality Matters For Feminism, that biological sex is a fact of nature.
It led to fierce criticism from the transgender community and also from hundreds of academics who claimed she should not have been awarded an OBE because of her views.
She eventually stepped down as a lecturer at the University of Sussex amid protests at the institution’s campus in Brighton.
This was the moment Professor Kathleen Stock told this transwoman that she was 'genetically male'.@Docstockk | @IainDale pic.twitter.com/LhCGuFzwJA
— LBC (@LBC) December 16, 2021
During the LBC show, hosted by Iain Dale, Ms Stock says she left the university after what she called “an absolutely horrible time” and “a very difficult few years”.
Ms Stock said: “I was worried along with lots of other people — mostly women — that it [gender identity] would make a difference in practice.
“Because being a women — normally as understood in terms of sex — grants you access to changing rooms, domestic violence refuges, rape crisis shelters, prisons and so on.
“And the idea was that this was all going to be unpicked and changed.”
Later, when the clip was shared on LBC‘s social media channels, she retweeted the segment adding “you should see some of my other scientific beliefs”.
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